2013 Key Scientific Accomplishments Report Now Available
PNNL's 2013 Key Scientific Accomplishments report is now available. This full-color report highlights discoveries and solutions advancing scientific frontiers in biological, chemical, computational, materials, and physical sciences.
Novel Statistical Approach for Understanding Microbial Community Ecology
New analytical framework compares processes across scales, ecosystems, taxa
To enhance the study of subsurface microbial communities underlying DOE's Hanford Site, scientists at PNNL developed a novel analytical framework that advances ecological understanding, resulting in a conceptual model of microbial ecology within and between geologic formations underlying the Site's 300 Area.
Novel Integration of Mass Spectrometry Techniques Wins R&D 100 Award
An instrument that quickly and effectively analyzes complex biological and environmental samples was named one of the past year's 100 most significant scientific and technological products or advances. The Combined Orthogonal Mobility & Mass Evaluation Technology (CoMet), developed by a team of PNNL scientists, won a R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine. CoMet integrates two complementary analysis techniques-multiplexed ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) and ultrafast quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry-within a single instrument. The advanced capabilities now available in CoMet are especially relevant to the needs of natural product management, environmental studies, biomedical research, and clinical practice.The team members are Richard (Dick) D. Smith, Gordon Anderson, Erin Baker, Kevin Crowell, William Danielson III, Yehia Ibrahim, Brian LaMarche, Matthew Monroe, Ronald Moore, Randolph Norheim, Daniel Orton, Alexandre Shvartsburg, Gordon Slysz, and Keqi Tang.
Genome Organization of Organism Reflects Its "Hot" Lifestyle
Microbial genomes' incredible functional and regulatory complexity makes them of great interest for potential environmental, energy, health, and industrial applications. In a study published in PLoS Genetics, scientists at the University of California, San Diego and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory characterized the genome organization of the hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritima using bioinformatics tools to integrate multiple omics data sets, including transcriptomics and proteomics. Their integrated approach revealed organizational features within the genome that lead to and regulate protein expression. The results suggest that T. maritima has very little transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation.
While the scope of this study is limited to a single organism, the hyperthermophilic nature of T. maritima could provide insights into the factors guiding microbial evolution and increase the organism's utility for biotechnology applications, such as high-temperature, biologically based chemical production.
Salmonella Infection Is a Battle Between Good and Bad Bacteria in the Gut
The blockbuster battles between good and evil are not just on the big screen this summer. A new study that examined food poisoning infection as-it-happens in mice revealed harmful bacteria, such as a common type of Salmonella, take over beneficial bacteria within the gut amid previously unseen changes to the gut environment. The results provide new insights into the course of infection and could lead to better prevention or new treatments.
